It’s no secret that comic book movies and extended universes have been the recent trend for major blockbuster films. Franchises such as the Marvel Cinematic Universe and DC Extended Universe have shown just what can be done when it comes to connecting a massive story between multiple films.
However, for every “Iron Man,” there’s a movie like “The Mummy” (2017) that tries its hardest to create a cinematic universe only to fall flat at the very beginning. “Morbius,” while not being the first entry in Sony’s Spider-Man Universe, definitely shares a lot of the same energy with the aforementioned “Mummy.”
“Morbius” tells the story of Dr. Michael Morbius (played by Jared Leto), a scientist who, in an attempt to cure his own rare blood disease, accidentally turns himself into an “evil” vampire. It should be noted that, despite the marketing surrounding the film suggesting that Morbius is a villainous character, he really doesn’t commit many heinous acts throughout the film.
After his initial transformation into a vampire, he takes out a bunch of shady black market security guards, but he really doesn’t do that much evil throughout the rest of the film and doesn’t even kill anyone else until the very end.
The film feels limited by its PG-13 rating, which is an issue that has cursed the previous two “Venom” films. The action and dark themes could be much more effective with an R rating.
But while the “Venom” films are carried by Tom Hardy’s inherent charm and likeability as a lead, Jared Leto is nowhere near capable for a leading role. Leto gives a lead performance that does not stand out or offer anything special to make the character unique among all the other antihero protagonists.
At times, the film feels like it takes pages out of the comic book movies of yesteryear, having more in common with a film like “Daredevil” (2003) than any recent releases. The overuse of slow motion definitely gets in the way of the action scenes.
For a character that is propped up to be super powerful, we rarely get to see Morbius in action. He spends most of the movie in recluse drinking his blue artificial blood (which kind of looks like Blue Raspberry Go-Gurt) so that he doesn’t go full vampire.
It also doesn’t help that the trailer consistently lied about things being in the movie or playing important roles in the plot. Key moments of the trailer such as the ending joke of Morbius saying that he’s Venom, then reassuring his victim that he’s “Dr. Michael Morbius at your service,” as well as the vandal art calling Spider-Man a murderer on the wallare completely missing from the film.
While both trailers made a great deal to show off Michael Keaton’s Vulture from “Spider-Man: Homecoming” as a key player in this film, he’s entirely reserved for two confusing and annoying mid-credits scenes that are nothing more than Sony trying to make an extended universe out of Spider-Man villains. All of this is done even though there is still not a true Spider-Man for all of these villains to go up against.
It’s completely up in the air what Sony will do in the future with its universe of Spider-Man villains. It currently has plans for an upcoming Kraven the Hunter movie, but if “Morbius” isn’t the success that the executives are hoping for, I wouldn’t be surprised if Sony simply cuts its losses and gives up on this cinematic universe before it can even begin, like it did for “The Amazing Spider-Man 2.”
Personally, if you’re looking to go to the movie theaters to see a blockbuster movie, there are many better choices out there than “Morbius.”
